Ask Sam: Hope and the Holidays

Next to the North Pole and Santa’s headquarters lies Rockefeller Center with skaters gliding around the ice. Its magnificent tree is the epicenter of Christmas itself. Every year, tens of thousands of people come from all over the world to gaze upon the extraordinary Christmas tree glowing in the dark, lighting up Rockefeller Plaza. It is said that the ornament at the very top of the tree is worth about $30,000. Mass crowds are mesmerized by this holiday opulence. It is the symbol of Christmas in New York.

Holidays are filled with lights at the darkest time of the year, a shadowy period in the hearts of many, while others rejoice. If we look at the origins behind lights during the holidays they are all related: they illuminate the darkness, a ray of hope for the future, a wish for peace amidst war, prayers for miracles and maybe even to lend lightness to our souls.

Hope is what sees us through the murkiest moments of our lives. Hope gives us the courage to find our way when we wake to find ourselves lost, “En una selva oscura.” Nobody wants to live in Dante’s “Inferno,” nor “Purgatorio” for that matter, even if we thought that Hell would be packed like an exclusive club with all the cool people “on the list” partying while Cerberus kept all the squares out. Once we got in, the place would not live up to the hype. Hope gives us something to cling to when all else is gone. It is what helps keep our spirits alive so we can go another day to see how it all works out.

Hope is vital to mankind. Once a person gives up hope it’s over. I have seen people abandon their dreams and it kills them slowly. The same can be said of us globally. Creative types must create. Wall Street cannot remain flaccid any longer and we must continue to hope for peace and a better world for a future worth having. If not, what’s the point?

This is a season of miracles and random acts of kindness. Let’s hope that warmth, compassion, generosity and lightness of being finds all of us this season.

As we ring in the New Year there will be more lights, wishes and more hope. It gives us a fresh start, almost a new life. I wish the energy that the New Year generates could stay with us all year around and that the twenty-four hours of peace around the world could be a constant. Wouldn’t it be great if we could maintain the same enthusiasm, so our resolute resolve to execute New Year’s resolutions would not fade with morning hangovers? I wish we all achieve our goals for 2014 and that this year fulfills our deepest yearnings for health, peace, prosperity and love to us individually, and to New York, the greatest city on earth.